


Dancing Lessons

by BirchWrites



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Gen, they're just vibing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27754846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirchWrites/pseuds/BirchWrites
Summary: “Here, watch me.” Eret lifts up his hands as if holding an invisible partner and takes a couple of smooth steps across the dusty stone floor, moving slow and exaggerated so her movements are easier to follow. “Just like that, see? One, two, three. Now you try it.”-In which Fundy gets his first lesson on how to be a prince.
Relationships: Eret & Floris | Fundy
Comments: 7
Kudos: 137





	Dancing Lessons

“Are you sure about this?” Fundy asks. He’s standing in the half-constructed main room of Eret’s new fortress, hands stuffed in his pockets to hide the slight nervous shake to them. 

“Of course,” Eret says from the other side of the room, where they’re leaning over a jukebox, apparently debating between two discs. “You’re going to be a prince, aren’t you? It’s only fair that I teach you how to act like one.”

 _Right,_ Fundy thinks. _Wouldn’t want your shiny new son to embarrass you in front of someone who matters._

Seemingly coming to a decision, Eret discards one of the discs and inserts the other into the jukebox before straightening up. A slow, stately song begins to play as he makes his way back over to Fundy. 

“We’ll start with an easy one, alright?” they say. 

Fundy takes a deep, slightly shaky breath, then nods and squares his shoulders. He can do this. 

“Here, watch me.” Eret lifts up his hands as if holding an invisible partner and takes a couple of smooth steps across the dusty stone floor, moving slow and exaggerated so her movements are easier to follow. “Just like that, see? One, two, three. Now you try it.”

Hesitantly, Fundy repeats the same steps. He’s nowhere near as smooth, but Eret beams anyway. 

“Yes, very good! That’s all you need to know for this one; just repeat that in time with the music. Ready?”

 _Absolutely not,_ Fundy thinks, but he nods anyway and lets Eret grab his hands and tug him gently into position. 

“I’ll lead for now, until you get the hang of it, and then we can switch,” they say. “Ready - and - _go.”_

It’s not a fast dance, luckily, but even at this speed it takes all of Fundy’s concentration. His eyes remain firmly glued to the floor, watching Eret’s steps and trying to replicate them - with debatable success. They’ve barely made half a lap around the room and he’s already stumbled twice and stepped on Eret’s feet four times. 

_Right, left, right, le- no, right._ Fundy lets out a frustrated groan as he stumbles again, and drops Eret’s hands. Why is this so hard? Eret said this was supposed to be an easy one, and yet he keeps messing it up anyway. 

They must be so disappointed in him, he thinks, but their voice is gentle when they speak. “Hey, it’s alright. You’re doing just fine.”

“I’m _not,”_ he protests. “I can’t do this, I’ll just embarrass you if I ever have to dance in public.”

“No you won’t. It takes a lot to embarrass me, you know.”

“Pretty sure I can manage,” Fundy mutters glumly. 

“Fundy, look at me.” He doesn’t want to, but Eret’s tone makes it clear that he’s not going to continue until he does, so Fundy reluctantly drags his eyes up to her dark sunglasses. “I was an absolutely awful dancer when I first started.”

Fundy raises his eyebrows. Given how graceful she is now, that seems unlikely. “I’m not sure I believe that.”

“No, it’s true. The first ball I ever attended, I tripped so badly that I knocked over my partner _and_ the couple next to us. Nearly twisted my ankle and everything.”

Fundy can’t help letting out a startled laugh at that, although he immediately claps a hand over his mouth, worried that he’ll insult Eret. “Sorry.”

But Eret just laughs too, bright and amused and not the slightest bit self conscious. “It was pretty funny, yeah. But the point is, it’s okay if you’re not perfect at it on your first try. You’re doing just fine for a beginner.” He holds out his hands and, after a moment’s hesitation, Fundy takes them. “Come on, let’s try this again. Don’t watch your feet, just focus on me.”

Eret counts them off and they start moving again. It seems counterintuitive, but keeping track of the steps is actually a little easier now that Fundy isn’t watching his every movement. He still stumbles a couple of times, but not as badly as before, and Eret catches him easily each time. 

By the time they complete a couple laps around the room, Fundy’s relaxed enough that he thinks he might actually be having fun. “Okay, I think I’m getting it now.”

“Good job! I knew you could do it,” Eret says, sounding far more proud than Fundy feels is warranted over such a simple task. “How about we try a spin now?”

“Uh,” Fundy begins, but Eret doesn’t actually wait for an answer before tugging him into a twirl, and his only two options are to go with it or trip, so he decides to go with it. 

When his spin ends, Eret catches him and dips him dramatically enough that Fundy yelps and grabs at their cape, thinking he’s about to be dropped. That makes Eret laugh hard enough that he really does drop him, but Fundy can hardly be insulted about that when he’s breaking out into giggles himself. 

It takes longer than it probably should for them to stop laughing, both of them feeding off each other’s amusement until the situation seems much funnier than it actually is. Eventually, they manage to get themselves mostly under control, although Eret is still muffling a chuckle with one hand while she reaches down with the other to pull Fundy up off the floor. 

“Alright, one more round, then we can move on to another dance,” Eret says once Fundy is standing again.

Fundy nods, and earns a proud grin from Eret when he manages to get his hands back in the right position without any prompting. And then they’re off again, tracing another slow lap around the room. 

“You’re doing much better already,” Eret says after a few seconds. “By the time there’s a ball for you to attend, no one will be able to guess you haven’t been doing this for years.”

“When do you think that will be?”

They shrug in response, smiling a little sheepishly. “Hard to say. Dethroned kings don’t get invited to many social functions, unfortunately, but that just means we have more time to prepare.”

“I think we’ll need it. I’ve never been to a ball before; even if I can figure out this whole dancing thing, I have no idea how I’m supposed to act,” Fundy admits.

He stumbles a little, too distracted by the conversation to pay attention to his footwork, but Eret just briefly catches his weight and continues on as if he hasn’t noticed anything. “Don’t worry about it; you’ll do just fine.”

“Aren’t there all sorts of etiquette rules to worry about?” Fundy persists, refusing to let go of the new thread of anxiety even if it unravels the easy sense of rhythm they’ve managed to build up. “What if I insult someone by accident?”

“Oh, there are lots of rules, but most of them involve how other people should interact with _you._ Being polite is probably a good idea, but if you’re not, nobody would be able to do anything about it.”

Fundy blinks at that. “Really?”

“Well, yeah. You’ll be a prince; the only person you’ll answer to is me, and I just ask that you try not to start any wars without speaking to me first.”

“I thought,” Fundy starts, and then cuts himself off because he’s not quite sure how to finish that sentence. _I thought you’d care more about how I affected your appearance than that? I thought you weren’t_ serious _when you said I’d be a prince, there’s no way you’re actually giving me that kind of power?_ Both are true; neither are things he should probably be saying out loud. “I don’t know.”

“Let’s just worry about one thing at a time for now, alright?” Eret suggests. “Dancing first, etiquette lessons later.” 

“Alright,” Fundy agrees, because he’s generally a fan of putting problems off until the last possible moment. “That sounds good to me.”

He doesn’t mind focusing on his dancing lessons for now, especially as he realizes with a thrill that he’s only missed one step in the entire lap. Maybe he is getting the hang of it, after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> When does this take place? Good question!


End file.
